Simon Beattie
Decorated book papers
From item 04
Spring 2019
01. BRONZE-VARNISH PAPER, Germany, early eighteenth century. £350
Bronzefirnispapier is a type of decorated paper ‘which has been block-printed with gold or silver coloured decoration. Bronze varnish can also be recognized by the often coarse granular printing ink; now and then squashed edges are visible’ (Krause & Rinck, Buntpapier, p. 56). Unlike brocade paper, which is impressed (and which quickly superseded it), this process utilises simple block-printing only.
As wrappers on a copy of Adrian Beier, De receptu tam personaum … (Jena, Enoch, 1675); 4to (187 × 145 mm), pp. 118, [20]; lightly browned with some offsetting.
02. BROCADE PAPER, by Johann Michael Munck (his pattern no. 30), one of the leading German brocade paper makers, Augsburg, fl.1730–60. £300
Brocade paper, which flourished in eighteenth-century Germany, ‘was developed in Augsburg at the end of the seventeenth century, at more or less the same time as bronze-varnish paper, and created the most expensive decorated papers of their time, which were sold all over Europe. The most commonly found type was created by metal- leaf embossing over an uncoloured or previously decorated paper, where metal leaf, therefore, only partially covers the surface’ (ligatus.org).
Haemmerle 250; Kopylov 126. As endpapers on a copy of Aphthonius, Progymnasmata … Novissima editio, superioribus emendatior … (Amsterdam, Elzevier, 1645); Rahir 1017; Willems 1018;
12mo (125 × 69 mm), pp. [4], 400, [10], including the additional etched and engraved title (dated 1642), woodcut title vignette; light marginal water-staining to the first couple of leaves, the odd mark elsewhere; early twentieth-century olive morocco, spine slightly sunned.
03. BROCADE PAPER ON MULTIPLE STENCILLED PAPER, Southern Germany, early eighteenth century. £450
Brocade paper in which gold leaf is impressed upon paper which has already been stencilled with colour.
As a covering for boards on a copy of Johann Kaspar Barthel, Disputatio Inauguralis Juridica de Decimis … (Würzburg, Engmann, 1729); cf. Heijbroek & Greven, p. 120; Kopylov, p. 182; and Gani, pp. 64–5; 4to (198 × 160 mm), pp. [8], 88, [6]; some light spotting to title-page, contemporary boards, a trifle rubbed and dust-soiled, spine chipped at head and tail.
04. BROCADE PAPER ON MULTIPLE STENCILLED PAPER, Southern Germany, early eighteenth century. £500
As wrappers on a copy of Urtheil des Synodi Nationalis der reformirten Kirchen in den vereinigten Niderlanden (N.p., 1619); small 4to (193 × 150 mm), pp. 60; some light waterstaining and browning, bottom and top right-hand corners of title-page torn away (no loss).
05. SPRINKLED PAPER, MARBLED PAPER, and PASTE PAPER EDGE DECORATION, Germany, mid eighteenth century. £600
An example of three different techniques being used to decorate one single book: in Germany, bookbinders made their own paste and sprinkled papers, but not marbled papers, which were made by decorated paper manufacturers (Buntpapiermacher), a practice perfectly illustrated by this book. The sprinkled paper is known as Kiebitzpapier (literally ‘lapwing paper’, as the decoration looks like a speckled egg), and was the most popular in Germany for a couple of centuries (Krause & Rinck, p. 228).
As boards, endpapers, and edge decoration, respectively, on a copy of William Derham, Astrotheologie (Hamburg, Bohn, 1745); 8vo (170 × 103 mm), pp. clxxxiv, 381, [1]; some light browning, contemporary half calf, lightly rubbed with small points of wear, spine gilt with yellow lettering-piece.
06. BRUSHED PASTE PAPER, Alsace? Switzerland?, late eighteenth century. £500
A quick, yet effective means of producing a decorated paper, in which ‘coloured paste [was] brushed horizontally, vertically or diagonally onto the entire surface and is evident only by the more or less parallel strokes of the brush’ (Krause & Rinck, p. 114).
This is a decidedly uncommon eighteenth- century French(?) binding. Paste papers are much more often found on German books, and the binding here, a Pappband, perhaps also points to a German binder, or maybe one at work in Alsace or Switzerland, where French- and German-speaking Europe meets.
As a covering for boards on copies of Jacques de Varenne, Considérations sur l’inaliénabilité du domaine de la Couronne (Amsterdam and Paris, Le Jay, 1775) and Pierre-François Boncerf, Les inconvéniens des droits féodaux (London and Paris, Valade, 1776); 8vo (196 × 122 mm), pp. [4], [iv], 5–154, with half-title; small section of the fore-margin of K5 torn away (no loss); iv, [5]–72; some occasional light spotting and marginal browning; upper joint cracking towards head but holding firm.
07. SPRINKLED PAPER and MARBLED PAPER, Germany, c.1770s. £250
A striking marble (cf. Wolfe, Marbled Paper, plate XXVI, no. 38) on the pastedowns, with Kiebitzpapier on the sides.
As boards and pastedowns, respectively, on a copy of Bibliothek zum Gebrauch der baierischen Staats-Kirchen- und Gelehrten-Geschichte. Zweyter Theil (Munich, Fritz, 1772); 8vo (165 × 92 mm), pp. [16], 240; some light offsetting,
contemporary half calf, rubbed, extremities worn, spine gilt with two paper spines labels, both gilt, bottom label worn, red edges, early bookplate to front pastedown.
08. CURL-MARBLED PAPER, France, c.1770s. £600
Here, snail-like spirals have been created on a so-called Turkish pattern. ‘By the 1730s or 1740s, when the placard, persillé, and some of the other patterns representative of this golden era ceased to be made, the small and regularly curled “commun” paper continued in force as the principal marbled paper produced in France for the next fifty years or so; this is the design most frequently seen in French volumes dating from the 1720s or 1730s and throughout the rest of the century’ (Wolfe, p. 181). Vol. III here was perhaps sometime supplied from another set, but the endpapers are strikingly similar.
As endpapers on a first edition of André-Guillaume Contant d’Orville, Les nuits anglaises (Paris, Costard, 1770); 4 vols, 8vo (163 × 102 mm), pp. [2], 28, 368; [2], viii, 368; [2], viii, 400; [4], 376, [2]; old water stain to the fore-margin of the first few leaves in vol. II, some light browning elsewhere, more so to the margins at the end of vols I and III; contemporary mottled calf, red morocco spine labels (vol. III bound almost identically, but seemingly from another set); a little rubbed, some corners worn, to vol. IV headcap chipped, upper joint starting, but firm, a few marks.
09. BLOCK-PRINTED PAPER, Italy?, late eighteenth century. £200
Block-printed paper has its roots in textile printing and was particularly popular from the 1760s onwards. The printing itself was done manually, using wooden blocks.
As a covering for boards on a copy of Anton Bucher, Seraphische Jagdlust … (N.p., 1784); 8vo (179 × 103 mm), pp. xx, 118, with etched frontispiece (nearly loose); some light browning and spotting, contemporary mottled half sheep, rubbed with some marks, headcap chipped, spine gilt, one small section (approx. 10 × 90 mm) torn away from lower board, early ink ms. to lower pastedown.
10. BLOCK-PRINTED PAPER, Germany, c.1800. £200
A striking block-printed paper, with a typically German deep blue.
As endpapers on a copy of Martin von Cochem, Goldener Himmel- Schlüssel (Augsburg, Wolff, 1804); 8vo (183 × 109 mm), pp. 32, 97– 756, [12], with 16 illus. plates, lacking one gathering; some very light browning, contemporary calf gilt, rubbed with one strip of leather beginning to tear from upper cover, gilt since tarnished, all edges gilt and gauffered, elaborate gold and white endbands at head and tail.
11. GRANITMARMORPAPIER, Germany, early nineteenth century. £450
A particularly nuanced pattern, known as ‘Stormont’ in Britain, made difficult due to the rapid evaporation of the turpentine and quickness of manipulaton necessary for its rendering. Compared to the relatively simple shell marbled pattern, Stormont requires ‘a full ten years’ for mastery (Wolfe, p. 185).
As a covering for boards on a copy of the first edition in German of Joanna Baillie’s Plays on the Passions (Amsterdam und Leipzig, Rohloff, 1806); 3 vols, 8vo (180 × 111 mm), pp. cxvi, 418; 400; xvi, 656; some light offsetting and marginal browning; contemporary green half calf, spine gilt with brown paper labels, rubbed, corners worn, vol. II chipped at head.
12. BLOCK-PRINTED AND PASTE PAPERS, Italy, 1810s. Together £750
Two copies of the same book, in similar (publisher’s?) binding, but with differently patterned endpapers.
As endpapers on copies of St Nierses, Preces (Venice, St Lazarus Monastery, 1815); 18mo (103 × 63 mm), pp. 172, with one engraved plate; one small wormhole trail to front free endpaper and first few leaves, contemporary paste paper-covered boards, gilt, rubbed with small points of wear, headcap chipped, all edges gilt, early ownership signature to front free endpaper verso (‘Emily Wingfield Venice Octr 6th 1816’); front endpapers a little marred by waterstain in the second copy, bookplate to front pastedown.
13. SHELL-MARBLED PAPER, England, c.1820s. £250
A deceptively simple paper arising in the first years of the nineteenth century: ‘To create this pattern, one simply adds a few drops of olive or linseed oil, or another oily substance, to a modestly thinned color and, after thorough mixing, throws the color onto the size, usually with a rice straw brush or a broom whisk. The color can be spplied singly or after one or several colors for veins have been laid down … Despite its ease of construction, the shell pattern requires a certain amount of skill to keep the spots
evenly colored and proportioned throughout the pattern’ (Wolfe, pp. 185–6).
As both endpapers and as a covering for boards on a copy of Isaac Taylor, Memoirs … of the late Jane Taylor (London, Holdsworth, 1826); 2 vols in one, 12mo (168 × 103 mm), pp. xx, 202; [2], 324, with engraved frontispiece; some light browning, offset to title-page from frontispiece, contemporary half calf, spine gilt, rubbed, old ink ownership inscription to front flyleaf (‘M. Albright Sisters.’), ownership signature in pencil to title-page (‘Wm Albright’).
14. SHELL-VEINED NEO-SPANISH MARBLED PAPER, England, c.1820s. £150
In the 1820s, English marbled paper makers ‘revived the waved pattern that had been popular in Spain at the end of the eighteenth century, introducing it into their own repertoire and producing it more precisely with very even waves’ (Wolfe, p. 188). Here, we see it in the distinctive shell-veined variation (cf. shell marbled paper).
As a covering for boards on a copy of John Bowring, Specimens of the Russian Poets … Second edition (London, for the author, 1821); 12mo (165 × 97 mm), pp. xxxv, [1], 239, [1]; a few spots to the title, else a very good, clean copy in contemporary half calf, rubbed.
15. GUSTAVMARMORPAPIER, Germany, mid-nineteenth century. £400
Not technically marbled at all, but a sprinkled paper, akin to Achatmarmorpapier (‘agate paper’), also known as papier Tourniquet or Annonay: ‘Primed paper showing an intense colour with closely set irregularly formed sprinkles, whose edges are distinctly darker than the center through chemical additives’ (Krause & Rinck, p. 226). This is a paricularly large example.
As a covering for a copy of the first and only edition in German of Joseph Skelton’s Engraved Illustrations of antient Arms … (Berlin,
Fincke, 1836); Large 4to (342 × 255 mm), pp. [4], 42 (letterpress text in double columns), followed by 150 lithographed plates (one signed H. Delius); some light spotting and marginal browning; burgundy quarter roan, green vellum tips, spine gilt in compartments; a little rubbed, headcap snagged.
16. NEO-SPANISH MARBLED PAPER, England, nineteenth century. £120
With all edges similarly marbled.
As endpapers on a copy of Samuel Rogers, Poems (London, Cadell, 1822); small 8vo (164 × 102 mm), pp. [6], 319; wood-engraved illustrations throughout; a few light marks to the title-page; occasional underlining in pencil; contemporary full calf stamped in gilt and blind, a bit rubbed; booklabels of Eliza Philips and J. O. Edwards.
17. STORMONT MARBLED PAPER, France?, Spain?, c.1820s. £800
A slightly later example of the difficult Stormont pattern, this time with an unexpected colour combination: pink, mustard yellow, black, and blue. Though the book was printed in Moscow, the binding here looks almost Spanish.
As endpapers on the first edition of Pierre Hennequin, Nouveau cours de rhétorique (Moscow, Auguste Semen, 1818); 8vo (198 × 125 mm), pp. [6], xiii, [14]–462, [2] errata; small stain to lower right-hand margin of p. ix, not affecting text, some very light foxing; contemporary polished tree calf, smooth spine gilt with red sheep lettering-piece, some minor scratches and marks to boards, a little rubbed but still very good.
18. NONPAREIL MARBLED PAPERS, England, 1820s. £400
The nonpareil pattern came into vogue in the late 1820s, and finds its origins ‘in the closely combed papers made in France in the early and middle decades of the seventeenth century. British marblers, it seems certain, were rarely originators’ (Wolfe, p. 189). It is formed ‘by laying down three, four, or five colors in spots, raking them crosswise, and then combing through the stripes with a comb with many teeth spaced very closely together’ (ibid.).
As a covering for boards on a copy of James Wills,The Universe: A Poem (London, Colburn, 1821); 8vo (211 × 140 mm), pp. [6], 108; the occasional spot, nineteenth-century green half calf, extremities rubbed and a bit worn in places, bookplate of J.O. Edwards to front pastedown.
19. NONPAREIL MARBLED PAPERS, England, nineteenth century. £500
With all edges marbled in a similarly combed pattern.
As endpapers and a covering for boards on a first edition of Anselm Bayly’s A practical Treatise on Singing and Playing … (London, Ridley, 1771); 8vo (198 135 mm) in half-sheets, pp. v, [1], 16, 99, [1]; a few musical examples, printed typographically, in the text; p. 27 mispaginated ‘28’; early ms. (price/binding) note to the title; nineteenth- century red pebbled half roan, spine lettered gilt; rubbed, corners a bit worn.
20. PAPIER TOURNIQUET and SHELL-MARBLED PAPER, presumably France, 1840s. £200
Papier Tourniquet arose in the early 1840s in France. Despite its marbled-like appearance, it is not marbled at all, instead being produced ‘by coating [the paper] with color and subsequently using acid to bring about the final effect’ (Wolfe, p. 115). The endpapers here are, however, marbled, and are sporting a very fine shell-marbled pattern.
As boards and endpapers, respectively, on a copy of Count Sergei Semenovich’s Equisses politiques et littéraires … (Paris, Gide, 1848); 8vo (225 × 143 mm), pp. [4], 292, [4]; with an engraved portrait frontispiece by Bosselmann after Kaniewski; some foxing throughout; contemporary quarter calf, green vellum tips, spine lightly rubbed.
21. COMB- and CURL-MARBLED PAPER, England, mid- nineteenth century. £300
An example of what Wolfe rather derisively called ‘a dismal trend’ with ‘more and more machine marbling or patterns photographically produced and less and less of the authentic product’ (p. 191). Cf. Wolfe Plate XXXVII, no. 173.
As endpapers on a copy of Ebenezer Jones, Studies of Sensation and Event … (London, Fox, 1843); 8vo (215 × 141 mm) in half-sheets, pp. [4], iv, 203, [1], with errata slip to p. iii; marginal browning, light spotting along the gutter in places, short tear to upper corner of title (the paper a little brittle), half-title loose; late nineteenth-century red full morocco, all edges gilt, corners worn, joints rubbed, the binding a little darkened; inscription (dated 1897) to front flyleaf; booklabel of J. O. Edwards.
22. SCHROTMARMORPAPIER, Germany, mid-nineteenth century. £120
Schrotmarmorpapier (from the German for ‘roughly-ground meal’) was create by the addition of ‘a mixture of Marseilles, Venetian, or castile soap, water, gall, red prussiate of potash (ferricyanide), and a little alum, … to the ground color bringing about its special appearance (Wolfe, p. 187).
As a covering for boards on a Sammelband of three English plays printed for Hartung in Leipzig, 1843–51; 3 works in one vol., small 8vo (133 × 88 mm), pp. 32; 30, [2]; 68, with 4 leaves of a ms. English-German vocabulary list loosely bound in after third work; some light foxing to the third work; contemporary boards, rubbed, spine worn at foot; one or two small pencil annotations, name of early owner (‘Grube’) to front flyleaf recto in ms. ink, accompanied by a German postcard to Helen Grube, dated 10 August 1876.
23. ACHATMARMORPAPIER, Russia, c.1890s. £400
A monochromatic example of ‘agate’ paper.
As a covering for boards on a very rare book of libretti compiled by the Russian opera scholar Vsevolod Cheshikhin (Riga, Blankenstein, 1893); 8vo (213 × 135 mm), pp. 276, [v]–xiii, [3]; page number on p. 211 trimmed, printing flaw to pp. 215 and 219 from a crease in the sheet when in the press, short tear to p. xii; occasional light foxing; neat paper repairs to pp. 17, 67, and 112/113, slight cracking to book block in places; ink inscription (dated 1920) to title; old half cloth by V. Yudin in Riga (binder’s stamp to front pastedown), rubbed.
24. ACHATMARMORPAPIER, Russia?, 1890s. £300
A striking example, perhaps machine-made: black on bright blue.
As a covering for boards on a copy of Pleshcheev’s life of Dickens (St Petersburg, Skorokhodov, 1891); 8vo (189 × 120 mm), pp. [2], 294, ii; with photographic portrait frontispiece by Shtein (browned); closed tear in the gutter of final leaf of text; contemporary quarter sheep, rubbed, cloth tips, purchase note (dated December 1890) to the title; old bookseller’s marks and later sticker to rear pastedown.
25. CHROMOLITHOGRAPHED PAPER, Russia, c.1890s. £1000
A fine example of a chromolithographed paper being used in a deluxe presentation binding by leading Petersburg binder of the period, Eduard Rau.
As endpapers on a copy of the first edition in Russian of Hanslick’s touchstone text On the Musically Beautiful, translated from the German by Herman Laroche (Moscow, Jurgenson, 1895); 8vo (184 × 130 mm), pp. [2], xlvi, [3]–181, [1]; with a calligraphic presentation inscription (in red, blue, and gold) ‘Dem innigst verehrten Verfasser vom Uebersetzer. St Petersburg, d 12/24 Mai 1895’ to front flyleaf; a very good copy, in contemporary red morocco by Rau, all edges gilt, extremities darkened, spine rubbed and lightly sunned.
Simon Beattie [email protected]